Dominic
Several guests have come over to ask me why I don’t dance, and several more have tried to get me to drink. I don’t know, maybe because it’s out of my comfort zone, but I just don’t like being at this party. It doesn’t feel right. We should be covering our tracks, getting distance between Jose’s men and us, and lying low-not attending a wild party for people who weren’t even in high school when I was.
That makes me sound like an old man, and I smile. I’ve always been an old soul since I was young and taking care of my brothers. Alessandro was older, but I protected him-it’s what I did. It’s always been that way.
When Sofia sits beside me, I sip on my soda and answer her few questions and statements. She’s even cheekier than usual, and I can’t lie- it’s entertaining.
At least she’s not a wild alcoholic swinging from the rafters singing at the top of her voice. Lord knows I have met enough of those.
She seems to handle her drink well.
I see a few guests leaving, and I comment, “Looks like the party is wrapping up.”
“That’s weird,” she says. “Normally, Carmila throws wild parties that last all night long.”
“Maybe they’ve run out of drugs,” I suggest. “Generally, parties like that are fueled by illegal substances.”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe this is just the prep party. Maybe there’s another party happening somewhere else that everyone has to go to. That’s happened a few times.”
I keep my eyes on Carmila, and once or twice her gaze meets mine.
There’s something about the way that she looks at me that unsettles me. She’s so casual about me, as though she’s known me forever. Is it confidence? Friendliness? I don’t know, but it’s too much.
“We should move sooner rather than later,” I say. “Moving around is what’s keeping us alive.”
“Can we not just rest for one night?” Sofia asks. Her whining sounds less irritating and more endearing. It’s not a whine. It’s just a request from an exhausted woman-an exhausted, beautiful woman.
I give myself a mental slap. NO! Not going there.
I look at her. “I don’t know, Sofia. I have a feeling. I always trust my gut.”
She puts a hand on my arm again, and there’s that electricity, that spark of something. “We can leave at like five in the morning if you want.
Let me just sleep in a bed, please.”
I sigh. “Fine, but we’re leaving at four, not five. I’ll wake you up.”
She nods. “It’s a deal.”
“What’s a deal?” Carmila asks as she walks over. I’m surprised when Sofia answers, “That we’ll be leaving in a day or two.” Good girl, she’s learning not to trust everyone.
Carmila smiles. “Okay, I’m going to get something quick, then we can take the party inside.”
I wait until she turns around, then stand up. “Where’s the bathroom?”
“Inside, down the hallway, second door to your left. But you can use the one in the room we showed you earlier as well,” Carmila says with a friendly smile.
I nod, and I follow her into the house.
By sheer dumb luck, I look out the window and see two cars pulling up quickly.
They’re here.
I glare at Carmila. “You!”
“Sorry,” she says with a smile, “Jose sends his regards.”
I whip out my gun and point it at her head. “I send mine.”
I pull the trigger, and everyone screams at the noise. A few people who look in start crying hysterically and immediately run off.
Sofia comes rushing in and looks between my gun-holding hand and Carmila’s lifeless body on the floor. She glares at me. “What have you done? How could you!”
I grab her. “We need to go. They’re…”
A gun is placed against the back of my head, and I freeze.
“We’re here,” a voice says, and I hold my hands up, gun still in my hand.
“Drop it, or I blow your brains out. I don’t mind doing it even if you do drop the gun,” he says from behind me.
I consider whether or not I could disarm him. The problem is that there were many people in the cars I saw.
I drop the gun, and they grab me by my arms, taking my other weapon. They grab Sofia, too, and we’re taken to one of the cars. They slip cable ties over our hands and shove us into the back of one of the vehicles.
I don’t know how long we’re in the car, but we’re dragged out to a room where two chairs face each other. They’re about three yards apart. I’m placed in one, and Sofia is placed in another, silent tears streaming down her face. I hadn’t even noticed she’d started crying. A dull ache echoes through my chest at the sign of her distress.
A few goons come in, and I know what I’m in for when I see one with knuckle dusters on his hands. I look up at them. “Hello, gents, any chance of a whiskey? Maybe some wine?”
One of the large men punches me through the face, and I’m momentarily dazed.
“Where are your brother and his wife?”
I look up again and can feel a bruise forming on my face.
“Alessandro and Tatya are in New York, don’t you know that?”
They hit me again. “Where are Francesco and his wife?”
I spit some blood onto the floor next to me. “I don’t know. I’m not in charge of his security detail.”
I get hit a few more times before the next question is asked. “What does Alessandro know about Jose and the people planning to betray him?”
“I’m muscle, my friend, just like you. They don’t tell me their elaborate plans. They point, and I shoot, that’s all.” My one eye is swelling shut, but I’ve withstood worse torture than this.
A dark-haired goon takes out a gun, and I look into his eyes. I’m not going to be afraid of dying. He points the gun at my head, then my leg, and fires. The shot hurts, but the bullet doesn’t go into my leg. “Jesus, can’t you aim! You idiot!”
They move out of the way, and I see Sofia sitting opposite me. She’s gagged. I was so focused on what they were doing to me, trying to keep the pain in my mind only, that I didn’t recall she was here. The sight of her scared, wide-eyed lights a fire inside of me. I have this irrational desire to protect her. I shift around slightly. “Man, this is uncomfortable.”
I have a blade by my ankle. If I can get free and get to it, I’ll make mincemeat out of these thugs before they have a chance to fire off another shot. Hand-to-hand combat was always my favorite thing growing up.
I get punched again, and again, and again. Arm, face, chest, stomach -you name it.
My body is aching, a dull throb, and they repeat the same questions over and over again, but I stop speaking altogether. I don’t answer to anyone except Alessandro, even if that means it costs me my life.
I’m a bit dazed from the blows to the head, and I’m unsure if I can stay awake much longer. But whatever they think they’re getting out of this, they aren’t.
Sofia
I watch as they pummel the daylights out of Dominic, and I cry. I cry because Dominic killed my friend, I cry because Jose’s people now have me, and I cry that the only man who can save me is not only my friend’s killer but will probably be killed anyway.
The men take off my gag and leave the room, and I watch Dominic, who slowly raises his head. He looks at me through one bloodshot eye. The other is swollen shut and already turning black.
“You okay?” he croaks out.
“You killed my friend,” I say quietly, sniffing. “How could you do that.”
“Your friend betrayed us.” He spits a ball of blood onto the floor between us. “She called Jose’s men. She set us up.”
“That’s bullshit,” I yell, and I see him wince, but I don’t care. I keep my voice loud. I don’t care who is listening. “She wouldn’t betray me. She’s one of my best friends. She would never put me in harm’s way.”
Dominic snorts, and he grins at me. “You are naive. She probably became your friend because she has connections to the underworld-our world. You can never escape this life, Princess. You can only make do with the shit cards you’re dealt with. They probably saw you were lonely and sent your little friend along to comfort you, and all along, she’s been feeding information back to Jose.”
I shake my head, tears welling up. “No, you’re just a killer. You have no fucking heart. You don’t even have a fucking friend. What would you know about friendship?”
Dominic shakes his head. “I know about family and loyalty, and I am not stupid enough to think that this life isn’t dangerous. You can’t help that you were born your father’s child, but you can’t ignore what that means for you for the rest of your days.”
“Well, that won’t be long. I’ll kill myself before I let Jose near me,” I snap at him.
Something dangerous flashes in Dominic’s eyes, as though those words struck a chord. I look away. “I never want to see you again. You deserve to die for what you did for Carmila.”
Dominic sighs. “I can’t convince you that I got revenge for you, but I will say, Princess, I probably deserve to die. I’m not a hero. I’m not a knight in shining armor. I’m hired muscle and a hitman. That’s all I’ve ever known and all I’m ever going to be.”
I don’t say anything further to him. I don’t want to look at him. We sit there in silence, his breathing ragged. I briefly wonder if he will make it, but then I steel myself. I don’t care. He is a monster.
And I meant what I said. I’ll kill myself before I bear Jose Catalan’s children.
Three guards come in, and I watch them from underneath my eyelashes. They come directly for me. Shit.
“Come on, honey. The boss wants to see you.” “Jose is here?” I ask as they untie me.
“You’ll see soon enough,” a guard laughs darkly, and they take me by my arms and escort me out. I glance backward once over my shoulder to look at Dominic before another guard shuts the door.
I’m brought through the garden and into a house to a beautiful room with lush sofas and throw pillows. This isn’t like the other place at all, where the outside looked good, but the inside was shit. This house is clearly a residence, not a base of operations.
A man sits in an armchair, and I’m escorted to the sofa.
“Sofia,” he says with a big smile, “Do you want something to eat?
Something to drink?”
“Are you…are you Jose?” I ask, confused. “Your accent sounds….”
“I’m from Argentina too. I’ll be taking over your father’s territories. My name is Amancio. We should get to know each other because we will see a lot of each other for the foreseeable future.”
I swallow hard as he pours some iced tea into a glass. “Drink, help yourself. How can I call myself your husband if I treat you like a prisoner?” I frown. “I was told Jose is going to make me a mistress,” I reach for the glass, not wanting to anger Amancio.
“That was before. He feels you’ve been too much trouble now. He’s decided to align our houses, mine and your father’s, through our marriage, and I will take over your father’s businesses. See, Jose takes care of those who are loyal to him.”
I frown and sip my iced tea. It’s sweet. I set it back down. “And if I don’t want to marry you?”
“I’m sorry,” Amancio chuckles. “Did I give you the illusion that you had a choice?”
I swallow hard. “But don’t you want a wife that will love you, care for your every need and raise your children.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll be doing all those things. I may seem like a friendly person, Sofia, especially because of my bright Hawaiin-themed shirts, but make no mistake. I won’t kill you quickly. I will tie you to our bed, rape you, force you to bear me children, and that’s all you will do. I won’t give you the peace of a quick death.”
I look at him, horrified. “Why…”
“Because my family has been waiting faithfully in the wings for long enough now. Perhaps you know my cousin, Bruno. He’s your father’s second in command.”
“He’s my Uncle,” I say defiantly. “He betrayed our family.”
“He’s adopted,” Amancio says calmly. “Planted in your family to grow from a seedling to a mighty tree. Now I am going to have your father and the rest of your family tortured and butchered for their betrayal, and I’m going to send your father’s head to Jose as a gift, a token of my loyalty.”
“Please, no,” I beg. “I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll marry you and have your children, and I’ll be a good wife, but please don’t kill my family.”
“I’m afraid my decision is final, Sofia. Such a pity, too. Your father really does rule the roost of Argentina.” He clicks his tongue and sips on his glass of iced tea. “I’ll be sure to rule with a more iron fist.”
“The people are loyal to my father. He isn’t soft. He’s just patriotic,” I say, sniffing.
“He’s a fool, a fool that’s going to die sooner rather than later.” he sets his glass down. “Now I imagine you’d like to have a nice relaxing hot bath and get into some proper clothes. Those definitely aren’t appropriate for someone who will be my wife.”
I look down at Carmila’s clothes and remember she’s dead.
“How did you find me?” I ask, looking up at him.
“I have little birdies everywhere, my dear,” he says, standing up. “Now I have to deal with your little Sorvino friend, put an end to that, and then I will see how much of the wedding I’ll let you plan. That should make you feel better, right? Women love planning their weddings. I promise we will spare no expense.”
I look around, looking for an exit.
“You’ll find this is a rather heavily guarded house, Sofia. I wouldn’t try to run. If I have to kill you and take your father’s territories by force, I will. Don’t try me.”